Glass Slipper
by kerianne
Summary: Pure Aoki/Karen fluff, written for the hourfic challenge on the CLAMP fic ML. Short and sweet.


Author:

Author: Kerianne _  
_Email: [][1]mpike@froggernet.com_  
_Title: Glass Slipper_  
_Spoilers: None _  
_Warnings: None whatsoever. Pure sap/fluff._  
_Author's Notes: Once again proving that I am nearly incapable of writing a serious/angsty X fic. Then again, the manga itself has quite enough angst already, I don't feel the need to add to it. This was written for a challenge to write a CLAMP fic in less than an hour. It was inspired by one of the pictures in the X Zero artbook, so if this scene sounds familiar to you, that's why. ^_^

Glass Slipper

Aoki Seiichirou peered into the mirror and managed to adjust his tie one more time before the doorbell rang. He was a little nervous, which was fairly understandable, considering this was going to be the first time he'd been out on a date since Shimako had left him. But on the other hand, it wasn't even a date.... just a casual night out with a friend for a little dinner and dancing. That was all.

Nodding resolutely to himself, but still a bit on edge, he hurried to the door and opened it.

"Hi... I hope I'm not too dressed up or anything..." Kasumi Karen looked sheepishly down at the long red dress she was wearing, tugging on the skirt a little, then looked up at the simple black suit her companion was wearing.

His face softened into a smile. "No, you look... wonderful."

"I knew you'd say that."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes..." She winked. "Because you're one of those men who'd say a woman looked wonderful even if you'd never seen anything uglier in your life." Catching the slight frown on his face, she laughed melodically. "I'm just teasing you. You're a gentleman... I like that."

"Er... thanks." He was blushing already, she noticed in amusement.

"Anytime. Now, we'd better get going or we'll miss our reservation..." Without waiting for a reaction, she grabbed his hand and basically dragged him out the door.

_Well, we know who's in charge in this relationship,_ Seiichirou thought wryly. _.... I mean, if there was a relationship.... because there isn't..... _

Pushing all denials and stray thoughts out of his mind, he allowed a bit of Karen's enthusiasm to rub off on him and let himself be pulled along. It was sure to be an interesting night.

* * * * *

"I had no idea you were such a good dancer."

"I had no idea _anyone_ could dance so well in heels like that."

Karen giggled, twirling a little on the sidewalk. "It's a talent." Something bright and colorful in the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she stopped to stare into the window of the flower shop they were currently walking past. "Pretty," she mused, admiring a large bouquet with bursts of blue, yellow and pink flowers. "Especially in winter, when everything's all white and grey..."

He stared at her for a moment, then broke into a spontaneous smile. "Wait here." 

She looked on in surprise as he stepped resolutely into the shop, and came out five minutes later, arms full of the bouquet she had been admiring. "You... didn't... you shouldn't..." she stammered.

"Has anyone ever bought you flowers before?"

"Well... no," she admitted.

Seiichirou smiled brightly. "Well, I think every woman should recieve flowers from someone at least once. So..." He gestured to the bouquet. "All yours."

Karen just stared at him for a moment, an amused smile touching the corners of her mouth. "You..."

"What?" he asked, a little nervously.

".... Thank you."

"My pleasure."

They walked in comfortable silence for a while, just enjoying each other's company, until Karen abruptly stopped. "Gotta get these heels off," she muttered. "Dancing in improper shoes may be a talent, but now my feet are killing me." Gracefully, she pulled herself up onto the short brick wall they were walking beside and kicked her shoes off. "Much better."

"Aren't you cold?" he inquired, trying not to look too obviously at the rather revealing slit in her skirt. "It _is_ snowing..."

She shook her head. "I love cold weather. Maybe it has something to do with my powers, but I don't get cold very easily... and the snow's so pretty." She leaned back, stretching out on the wall, and stared up at the slowly twirling snowflakes outlined against the night sky.

He smiled, just watching her. Her curls were already dusted with snowflakes, and now they were beginning to sparkle on her face and cling to her dress. It gave her an almost ethereal quality, and he couldn't say it wasn't attractive...

She sat up abruptly, startling him a little, and grinned. "What are you staring at? Come up here and sit with me."

He paused, and instead picked up the red high heels she had kicked off a few minutes earlier. Handing one back to her, he stopped and looked down at the second one, then back up at her.

"Now what could you possibly find so interesting about my shoe?" she teased.

"Oh, nothing..." He looked up at her again, eyes sparkling. "I was just wondering....." Before she could respond, he leaned over and slipped the shoe onto her foot, then smiled up at her. "There. Perfect. You know what that means, don't you?"

".... It means now I'm only wearing one shoe," she said in a deadpan tone, staring at him as if he'd lost his mind.

"No... it fit."

"Considering it's my shoe, that would tend to happen..." She shot him a confused look.

"Karen-san," he said patiently. "Don't you remember the fairy tale? The prince looked all over for the girl who could wear the glass slipper..."

"Oh!" She laughed, finally understanding. "So I guess that means..."

"... that you're the one," he mused softly, then blushed immediately at her surprised expression. "But... then again, it's not a glass slipper... and I'm not a prince."

She gave him a luminous smile. "You might find that not everyone agrees with you on that point." Before he could ask her what she meant, she quickly continued. "Are you going to come up here, or do you just want to stand there staring at my leg all night?"

Seiichirou blinked, having been concentrating on not noticing the fact that his head was about level with the slit in her dress. He hurriedly climbed up onto the wall and sat beside her, setting the flowers down next to him.

Karen turned to face him, a smile playing around the corners of her lips. Slowly she leaned forward. "So... how did that fairy tale end?"

"Happily... ever after... of course..." he stammered, face just inches away from hers.

"And did the Prince get his girl?"

"Yes... I-- I believe he... did..."

"I wouldn't want to break tradition, then." And she kissed him.

The clock struck midnight. Neither of them noticed.

The End

   [1]: mailto:mpike@froggernet.com



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